Air traffic control (ATC) regulates and monitors traffic around airports in order to efficiently control the ingress and egress of aircraft. In doing so, ATC may request that a pilot locate other aircraft by providing the pilot with their flight identification (ID), aircraft type, and/or operating company. A sample dialog between ATC and an aircraft (e.g. Gulfstream XYZ) might be . . . ATC: “Gulfstream XYZ, you are number three for the airport; traffic is a Southwest Boeing 737 at your 2 o'clock and 6 miles. Plan to follow him, report that traffic in sight.” Gulfstream XYZ: “Roger, looking for the traffic.”
This requires the pilot of Gulfstream XYZ to look out the window and find the Southwest aircraft. To aid the pilot in this task, ATC has provided the pilot with information regarding the position of the Southwest aircraft, “at 2 o'clock and 6 miles”. However, this method of locating the aircraft is inefficient and burdensome. The problem is exacerbated by the host aircraft's own movement and pilot fatigue, etc. To assist pilots with the task of identifying other aircraft, many aircraft are equipped with an avionics display system that graphically renders a moving map including a depiction of the neighboring aircraft. This assists the pilot of the host aircraft to visualize all aircraft surrounding the host aircraft and helps the pilot determine the appropriate time to look out the window and the direction of the neighboring aircraft. ATC may provide the pilot with the aircraft type and/or operating company; however, this information is not displayed on the map.
In view of the forgoing, it would be desirable to provide a system and method for graphically displaying aircraft traffic information that includes at least one of the flight ID, aircraft type, and operating company.